The dirty secret behind jeans and bras

Photo | 1 December, 2010

Greenpeace China revealed the level of toxic pollution caused by the printing and dyeing of jeans and bras in Guanddong province. This little boy is one of the many people working on making jeans in the 'jeans capital of the world' (Xintang).

Greenpeace talked to villagers there who complained about the toxic discharges. "Everyone says that people who work in dyeing and washing have reproductive and fertility problems. My cousin once worked in a dyeing plant. He died of pleurisy," said Lin Zhixin, a migrant worker from Sichuan who works in jeans sewing.

This boy is working with his parents at a small jeans workshop in Dadun Village in Xintang. He earns 0.15 yuan for snipping loose thread ends off one pair of jeans; in one day he can do about 200 pairs.